IKAT

Real Ikat vs Faux Ikat

Real ikat is never a print. Nor a plain weave.

The ‘ikat boom’ of recent years has seen a flood of woven and printed fabrics that seize on the motifs, but not the actual technique, of traditional ikat making.

These vibrant but ultimately ‘flat’ fabrics are to genuine ikat what posters are to an oil painting.

The Magic of Real Ikat

True ikat looks like a cross between a Turner and a Rothko – just in coloured silk.

A sophisticated dying technique carried out prior to weaving imbues the finished silk with an unmistakable watercolour look – three-dimensional, slightly blurred, and transcendental.

It is this effect – far beyond the exotic motifs – that is the real magic of ikat.

When Ikat Was Gold

The ikat method reached its highest expression in 19th-century Central Asia.

Silk ikats produced there were so mesmerisingly beautiful – and so exorbitantly costly – that they served as an important status symbol on par with gold.

Wearing an entire robe made of silk ikat signalled absolute wealth and power.

The Couture of the Silk Road

The most prized ikats came from the ancient Silk Road city of Bukhara. Minutely patterned in up to seven different colours, they were the equivalent of today’s couture.

Only the highest echelon of society could afford this prestige fabric favoured for ceremonial robes and diplomatic gifts.

Ikat Was the Original Tie-Dye

Ikat was, above all, a dyer’s art. Bundles of silk thread were painstakingly and repeatedly resist-dyed for months before being transformed to the loom for weaving.

During the transfer, a slight shift occurred, creating ikat’s spectacular watercolour effect.

The success of an ikat depended largely on a master dyer’s vision.

Each colour required a separate tying and dyeing, with dyeing done in a logical sequence from light to dark. The most skilled artisans would subject some sections of the thread to multiple immersions, thus creating additional colours by over-dying.

To create a pattern of two colours required great skill. To create a pattern of seven colours required genius.

30 Steps Carried out over Several Months

Typically, it took three to six months to produce enough silk ikat for one outfit.

The process involved thirty pairs of hands belonging to highly specialised masters. Their well-guarded trade secrets were handed down among a few dozen families.

Soviet-era Ikat

Ikat’s status as a luxury item changed during Soviet times.

In a shift to industrial mass production, patterns were simplified, polyester replaced silk, and chemical replaced natural dyes.

Suddenly, the once unattainable prestige fabric became accessible to all of society.

Ikat’s Journey West

Ikat’s daring aesthetic had a profound impact on the Russian avant-garde of the early 20th century, directly and indirectly influencing artists such as Kandinsky and Malevich.

Russian theatre and ballet adopted the exotic silks into their costumes, eventually spreading Russian Orientalism to Paris and London.

Celebrities and artists like Sophia Loren, Rudolf Nureyev and Robert Rauschenberg helped advance ikat’s popularity in the West.

Guido Goldman’s Ikat Sensation

In 1997 private collector Guido Goldman caused a sensation when he made public his collection of two hundred antique Central Asian ikat robes and wall hangings.

Museums and experts worldwide were quick to crown Goldman’s pieces the finest ikats in existence – an epitome of the golden age of ikat in the 19th century.

Goldman’s collection toured major museums for over two decades, stunning wide audiences in blockbuster shows.

This served as a catalyst to the style’s popularity, giving birth to the ‘ikat mania’ of today.

The 21st-century Ikat Revival & ‘Diffusion Ikat’

The world’s newfound love of ikat caused a flood of ‘faux ikat’ fabrics created in the West. But in parallel, it triggered a revival of the genuine ikat method in Central Asia, where the craft had been abandoned a century earlier.

Thousands of new workshops across Central Asia are once again resist-dying and hand-looming.

The traditions are, alas, falling by the wayside for most of these new workshops who are are imitating, but not replicating, the craftsmanship of the 19th-century masters. Their silks are characterised by simplified patterns and limited, two-colour palettes.

Although technically classified as genuine ikat – they follow the traditional steps of resist-dying before weaving – the vast majority of contemporary silk ikats lack complexity and are best described as ‘diffusion ikat.’

Tamerlane’s Daughters’ World-Class Ikat

Karina was the first designer to introduce genuine silk ikat to the London fashion world in 2005. Her collection made an immediate impact and was photographed by Mario Testino for British Vogue.

Today, she uses both antique 19th-century ikat in her interior design work, and specially commissioned contemporary silk ikat for her Couture Cushions.

Unlike the ‘faux ikat’ and ‘diffusion ikat’ dominating the market, Tamerlane’s Daughters’ contemporary silk ikat bears all the hallmarks of 19th-century ikat art – depth of field, intricate patterns, and a multitude of colours.

It is hand-dyed and hand-loomed in small batches over many months, and features traditional Central Asian designs that date back 3,000 years.

The quality and sophistication of our silk ikat is simply unrivalled.

Our collections of Couture Cushions made from genuine silk ikat are available exclusively through our
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